


on stealing clothes, loneliness, grief, and newfound friendship

by Jay-atP (bifangirl)



Series: JatP Character Studies and Oneshots [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Lesbian Flynn (Julie and The Phantoms), One-Sided Flynn/Julie, One-Sided Reggie/Luke, Past Character Death, Post-Season/Series 01, Reggie Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27252517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bifangirl/pseuds/Jay-atP
Summary: Flynn and Reggie may have only become friends because she'd found him trying to steal a jean jacket from Julie, but it turned out a lot better than expected.Or: Post-canon Reggie and Flynn friendship
Relationships: Flynn & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: JatP Character Studies and Oneshots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969225
Comments: 18
Kudos: 166





	1. on stealing clothes (and newfound friendship and more)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic came from me wanting to write Flynn and Reggie being friends and it was originally going to be a oneshot until I started spiralling about them so. enjoy <3  
> (Shoutout to Jack for letting me yell at them about this)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The working title for this fic was _just flynn and reggie being friends and stealing clothes <3_ and it was supposed to be FLUFF

“So how does this work, exactly?”

Reggie looked behind him at Flynn’s words, shrugging before realizing she couldn’t see the gesture. “No clue. And it’s not like anyone’s been around to explain ghost physics to us or anything.”

Julie’s friend had found him half an hour earlier, looking for a jean jacket to steal from Julie’s closet. Instead of yelling at him as expected, she’d immediately joined in and attempted to help him pick one out. Of course, it’d been a bit difficult for her to actually help considering she couldn’t actually tell what he looked like in each, but she was trying nonetheless.

“Been a clothes’ thief long?” she’d asked when she’d found him, and Reggie’s first response had been laughter.

“Where’d you think I got this flannel from?” he’d replied in-between laughs, and her response had been to join him in his laughter. They’d settled into an easy silence after that, the occasional conversation interrupting their search for a jacket.

“You mean you don’t know _anything_ about being a ghost?” Flynn asked incredulously, stopping her search to stare in an abstract direction. Reggie poofed in front of her, figuring it was easier than telling her which way to turn.

“Well, I know how to do _this_ ,” he replied, throwing his flannel at her. She caught it just before it hit her face with a surprised laugh and indignant shout.

“Hey!” she laughed, going to throw the flannel back at him before pausing as a sly smile crossed her face. "Thanks for the flannel, Reggie," she said, wrapping it around herself and sticking her tongue out at him. It was Reggie's turn to be indignant, and he pouted and sat on the floor before laughing when he realized she had no clue what he was doing.

She joined him in his laughter, and it lasted for a few minutes before they went back to their search, Flynn occasionally attempting to throw clothes at him in retaliation.

“Why were you up here in the first place? And why did you want a jean jacket so much?” Flynn’s voice cut through the previously silent room, startling Reggie and causing him to drop the jacket he was holding.

“I-” He froze, trying to think of a less concerning answer than the truth. Unfortunately, Flynn saw right through his silence.

“Reggie?”

“Y’know how I mentioned that this flannel wasn’t originally mine?” he asked carefully, trying to say as little as possible. At Flynn’s nod, he continued; “Well, it was originally Luke’s. I told him I would give it back, but I never got a chance before-” he broke off, gesturing vaguely at himself before realizing she couldn’t see him. Thankfully, she seemed to understand what he was saying. “My flannel reminds me of my friends and- I guess in a way it feels like home. And I-”

“And you wanted something to remind you of Julie,” Flynn finished for him, nodding and shooting him a smile. “Aw, Reg, that’s really sweet.”

“I guess it is…” he trailed off, and he knew Flynn could immediately tell there was something more. Not for the first time, he cursed himself for being a terrible liar.

“Is… is something wrong?”

He sat down on the floor before responding, bracing himself for the awkwardness that was sure to follow.

“I just- It’s- If Luke has Julie and Alex has Willie, where does that leave me? Who do _I_ have?” His voice broke a little, and he wiped away tears he knew she couldn’t see. She sat down next to him, and they sat there in silence for a moment, Reggie contemplating what to say next to break the awkward tension.

“You’ve got me,” Flynn offered in a soft voice, speaking up before he could. Blindly, she reached out in an attempt to grab where she thought his hand was, overreaching and nearly falling over before catching herself. There was a beat of silence before she started laughing, Reggie quickly joining in. It died out quickly, however, Reggie’s smile fading into a softer look that he would never let his friend see.

“Thank you, Flynn.”

They sat there in silence for a long moment, Flynn’s only response being a soft smile in the direction she thought he was. A thought occurred to him after a few minutes, and he hesitated before he voiced it aloud.

“So why were _you_ up here?”’

“Oh, I-” she looked like he’d caught her off-guard, and he could see her fumbling to find words. “I was looking for Julie,” she admitted in a small voice, looking down at her feet. “I knew she wouldn’t be here, but part of me thought that maybe-” She broke off, looking up again. Reggie could see the faint shimmer of tears in her eyes before she wiped them away. “I guess I was just feeling lonely.”

He opened his mouth to respond before closing it again, unsure what to say. Before he could speak, Flynn barreled on as though the words wouldn’t stop now that they’d started.

“And I just- I feel like I’ve been left behind. I mean, Julie’s my best friend, and I know she still is, but I feel so _alone_ now. And it’s not your fault so don’t apologize.” She held up a hand in Reggie’s general direction as though reading his mind, and he closed his mouth. “I guess I feel a bit jealous. And that makes me selfish, doesn’t it? Because Julie can do whatever she wants and she doesn’t have to spend time with me, even if _I_ want to spend time with _her_.”

“Flynn, I don’t... I don’t think that counts as selfish.” Reggie paused for a moment before continuing; “I don’t think it’s selfish to not want to be alone.”

“That’s… surprisingly wise, coming from you,” Flynn joked, her smile melancholy and her eyes distant. He looked at her cautiously for a minute, moving a bit closer and trying to grab her hand like she’d attempted to grab his not long earlier. He failed, remaining incorporeal, and he sighed internally in frustration.

They sat in silence once again, Reggie debating how to respond. “Hey, Flynn?” He took a deep breath before handing her the folded piece of paper he’d taken out of his pocket. “Luke always talks about how music is connected to our souls. I don’t exactly know how any of this works, but I think if you play or sing that whenever you’re feeling lonely, I’ll hear it and be able to poof to wherever you are.”

“‘Home Is Where My Horse Is’? Is this a country song?” She smiled a bit, but he could tell it wasn’t mocking. “Thank you, Reggie. And… if you’re ever feeling lonely, you can poof to come see me. As long as it’s not the middle of the night or anything.”

After a beat, Reggie picked up his flannel from where Flynn had dropped it earlier and draped it over her shoulders. “I still don’t know how this works, but this is almost like a hug, right?”

Flynn’s sharp inhale made him look over at her scared he’d done something wrong, and the tear tracks on her face made him freeze for a moment before he noticed her small smile. She wiped the tears away quickly before jumping up, the flannel falling to the floor once again.

“Well? Have you found a jacket yet?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There'll be two more parts of this coming!


	2. on loneliness (and crushes, trust, and more)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Working title: _flynn feeling Lonely and Upset_

Ever since her conversation with Reggie in Julie’s room, Flynn had kept the lyrics to _Home Is Where My Horse Is_ in her pocket. She’d yet to take her friend up on his offer, yet she’d taken some comfort in knowing that she could at any time if she needed to. There was a part of her, that part that was cynical and harsh, that didn’t trust Reggie to make good on his promise. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Reggie - he’d definitely shown her a side of himself he hadn’t meant for anyone to see during their conversation - but there were doubts in her mind that were hard to shake off.

Still, she kept the song on her in case she’d need it. Weeks passed and as she spent more time with the band, Reggie in particular (she’d had a ton of fun playing Old Town Road for him and teaching him how phones worked), she found her loneliness and jealousy died down. The ache deep inside of her never fully disappeared, and she felt slightly empty even when hanging out with her friends, but as time progressed, she found Reggie became slightly more visible to her, soothing some of her hurt and envy.

Which was why it completely blindsided her when she found herself crying alone in her bedroom, staring at her phone and debating whether or not to text Julie. _“She’s out with Luke,”_ her brain helpfully reminded her. _“You shouldn’t interrupt that.”_ She pulled the paper and stared at the lyrics for a long moment, hesitating just a bit before starting to sing.

_“Home, what is it really?_

_Sometimes it’s a someone and not a place,_

_It’s that feeling of being safe,_

_It’s about who you’re with at the end of the day…”_ Flynn sang, her voice barely audible. She paused, uncertain, before she heard the familiar sound of someone poofing in.

_“Home is where my horse is!_

_Riding through trees by the river_

_Feel the summer breeze smile gettin’ bigger”_

She looked behind her to see Reggie continuing the song before he stopped, presumably because of whatever expression she was wearing on her face.

“Flynn?”

“Hey, Reggie.” She tried for a smile before letting it drop, her eyes falling to her hands.

“What happened? What’s wrong? Do I need to punch someone for you? Because I can’t really throw a punch, but I’ll do it if I need to.”

“Do you mind punching this math test for me?” she asked with an aborted laugh, holding up the tearstained paper. She giggled a bit as he actually tried to, his hand going through the paper instead of making contact. “It’s-” she cut herself off, looking back down at her phone. The offending article was still open, and she turned off the screen. “It’s stupid.”

“But it’s making you upset, isn’t it? It can’t be stupid if you’re upset about it.”

Flynn paused for a second at that, contemplating his words. “I still think it’s stupid but… I was reading an article about Julie and the Phantoms and they mentioned _Carrie_ in it and mentioned how we used to be friends, but I wasn’t mentioned at all and for some reason that really hit me hard. And I know it’s stupid because I’m not _in_ the band and why would they mention me? Of course, Carrie was mentioned because she’s part of Dirty Candy and her dad is rich and famous and I’m not-” she broke off both to catch her breath, and to stop herself from saying something she wanted to keep to herself. After a beat, she continued.

“And then I went to call Julie and I remembered that she was out with Luke and that just hurt more because-” she clapped her hands over her mouth to stop herself from saying more. _Fuck._ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Reggie freeze, hesitation written all over his face before he opened his mouth to speak. She buried her face in her hands. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._

“I-” she heard him take a deep breath before continuing, and she looked up to see a slight hint of anxiety in his eyes. “I have a crush on Luke, y’know?”

Flynn paused for a brief moment, confused until she realized what he was doing. He was letting her be the one to say it instead of embarrassing and upsetting her more by confronting her about it. “IhaveacrushonJulie,” she blurted out, hiding her face in her hands again. She forced herself to take a deep breath before she repeated what she’d said. “I… I have a crush on Julie.”

Hesitantly, Reggie sat beside her on the bed, raising his arms for half a second before lowering them as though he was just then remembering he couldn’t touch her. After a moment, he moved his hand over to where hers was. Before she could change her mind, she reached out in an attempt to grab it. To her surprise, she actually succeeded, and they stared at each other for a moment before she burst out giggling.

“... Flynn?” Reggie sounded slightly concerned, even if he was laughing a bit too. She supposed randomly laughing in the middle of that conversation would be concerning, and she forced herself to stop for a moment.

“We’re idiots, aren’t we,” she said, letting out another laugh. “Here we are, pining over our best friends who are in a relationship, and finding out that you can be solid. I wonder how many other people can say that.” She wiped away a tear, though she wasn’t sure if it was from her laughter or not.

Reggie paused a bit before he joined her in laughing. “I wouldn’t say we’re idiots, but… Actually, you’re right - we’re idiots.”

For some reason, that response set her off again, and they sat there laughing for a long moment before she stopped suddenly. There were several texts on her phone from Julie, all of them gushing about how much she’d written with Luke, and how much fun they’d had together. Reggie leaned over to read them, and she didn’t even bother to hide them, letting her hand fall without a word.

“I’m sorry, Flynn,” he said, and she could tell it wasn’t pitying. “I know how you feel.”

Hesitantly, he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a side hug. She leaned into it, leaning her head against his shoulder.

“Thanks, Reg.”

Silence fell over the room, giving Flynn time to think. _He doesn’t hate me. He doesn’t hate me. He knows how I feel and he doesn’t think I’m selfish. He understands what it’s like. He doesn’t hate me. He doesn’t think it’s stupid to be like this. He doesn’t hate me._

“Flynn… what you said about not being part of the band?” Reggie’s voice broke the silence, and she turned to look at her friend in confusion as he spoke. “I may only be able to write country but… what do you think about singing a duet with me?”

She grinned as an idea popped into her head. “What if we sang Home Is Where My Horse Is?”

Reggie’s responding grin was answer enough, though there was some clear hesitance in his eyes. “Are… are you sure?”

“Without a doubt, Reg.”

“Then let’s do it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is actually already done (because I wrote it before this chapter, oops), so that'll be out pretty soon!


	3. on grief (and regrets, friendship, and more)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Working title: _reggie visiting his grave :(_

Reggie stared down at his grave, emotions conflicted. There were two sides of himself at war, caught between the depression and acceptance stages of grief. There was a brief flash of anger, too, but he pushed it away - there was nothing to do with it but scream at a world that couldn’t hear him.

 _“Can you even mourn yourself?”_ he wondered as he stood there for a long moment. _“It doesn’t matter,”_ he decided. _“It’s not like there’s anyone else left to mourn me.”_

And then all of a sudden it all became _too much_ and he poofed without thinking about it, appearing in a familiar room without knowing how he got there. Flynn was lying on her bed, clearly concentrated on something, and Reggie backed up, moving to poof away. Because she was clearly busy and he didn’t want to bother her and he could just poof to the beach and he’d be fine and-

“Reggie?” It was too late, she’d already noticed him, and he tried to come up with an excuse to leave, come up with a lie to make himself seem fine because he really didn’t want to bother her - or anyone.

“Flynn, hi!” He could tell that the cheer in his voice sounded false, and he watched his friend’s eyes narrow at him suspiciously. “I was just…” He trailed off, not quite sure where he was going with that lie.

“Are you okay, Reg?” He had her full attention now - there was no way he could lie his way out of this. “Reg?” She’d stood up and started moving towards him. The expression of concern on her face was nearly enough to break him by itself, but he looked down at the ground before the tears could spill over.

“It’s nothing, Flynn,” he whispered, but she saw right through it.

“Clearly it’s not _nothing_ if you poofed here, so what is it? What happened? Do I need to punch someone for you?”

That got a small laugh out of him, and he looked up to see Flynn giving him a satisfied smile. It faded quickly, however, when she noticed the tears in his eyes, and he felt his own smile slide off his face.

“Don’t worry about it, Flynn-” he started, but his friend cut him off.

“Don’t _worry about it?_ Reggie-” She started to raise her voice but stopped at his unconscious flinch. “Reggie, clearly _something’s_ wrong…” And the concern and _distress_ in her voice were so clear and raw that he almost gave in, almost told her what’d he’d done, but instead he shook his head once more.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Flynn,” he tried one more time, but his friend clearly wasn’t having it. She stepped forward towards him again and reached out to grab his arm and pull him to sit next to her on her bed. He gave an exaggerated sigh to mask his surprise at her continued insistence on hearing him out before he spoke again. “I… I found where I’m buried.”

And that was all it took for his tears to start flowing, and he could see her face _crumple_ out of the corner of his eye, and he immediately felt guilty because he’d clearly made her upset and- His train of thought was interrupted by Flynn pulling into a tight hug.

“Oh, _Reggie_ …” she whispered to him, barely audible over his gasping sobs. “I-”

“Don’t,” he cut her off, looking her in the eyes through the tears blurring his vision. “Don’t say you’re sorry.”

She stared at him with some semblance of shock, and he was shocked to realize that there wasn’t any of the pity he’d been expecting. Instead, there was genuine sorrow and _grief_ that shone through her tears, and it warmed him through his pain.

“I- We were just _kids_ , Flynn,” he choked out, and he saw her eyes widen. “Is it selfish to wish I’d gotten to do _more_ , gotten to _live_? Is it selfish to mourn myself?”

“No, Reg,” she whispered to him through her own tears. “That’s not selfish at all.”

“I know I have you and Julie now and we’ve done so much and gotten so many opportunities but-” He broke, attempting to steady his breathing before continuing. “I can’t help but think we should’ve gotten to do this while _alive_.”

And Flynn looked so heartbroken at his words that he immediately wished he could take them back because it was _his_ problem and not hers and he hated that he’d been the one to put that look on her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“You don’t… You don’t have to apologize, Reg.” She took a deep breath before speaking again. “I can’t really punch the universe for making you feel like this, but I _can_ do this.” She grabbed one of her jackets from her closet and draped it over his shoulders, pulling him into another hug.

They sat there for a moment, the silence broken only by his sniffles before Flynn spoke up once more.

“Reggie… Where’s your grave?” He started at her question, and he thought she must have seen something change in his face because she rushed to apologize. “I’m sorry, I-”

“I… I can show you it if you want,” he offered, cutting off her apology. At his friend’s hesitant nod, he stood and began to lead her to where he was buried. His footsteps grew heavier the closer they got to the cemetery and his feet eventually started to drag against the pavement. He could tell that Flynn noticed - her worried glances weren’t exactly subtle - and he tried to make his hesitation less obvious. Eventually, they reached the graveyard, and he led her to a nearly-abandoned corner of it.

 _Reginald Peters_ the grave read - nothing more other than his birth and death dates. It was a plain headstone, and it was clear that it wasn’t visited. He heard Flynn let out a small noise, and he turned to her to see sorrow painted on her face. He watched as she laid the yellow rose she'd bought on the way over on his grave before she turned back to him, her smile not managing to hide her unshed tears.

"There," she whispered as she pulled him into yet another hug. "Now you don't have to be the only one standing here to mourn."

"If you're not careful, someone will see you hugging air," Reggie joked because he'd never been one to just leave a friend upset without at least trying to make them smile. It must have worked because he thought he heard a muffled laugh from Flynn, and she pulled away slightly just to respond.

"Can't you just, y'know," she gestured vaguely in the air, "use your ghost powers and make yourself visible or something?"

"You _know_ it doesn't work like that, Flynn!" he exclaimed in response, and now they were both giggling. _"It must look strange to anyone else,"_ he thought to himself. _"A girl giggling in a graveyard with tear tracks on her cheek, laying a flower on the grave of someone who died before she was even born."_

“Thank you, though. This… means a lot to me, Flynn.”

“You’ve always been there for me - of course, I’d do the same for you,” she replied, pulling away to stare at his grave. “It isn’t _fair_ ,” he thought he heard her whisper, but when he looked over at her, there was only a small smile on her face. “Let’s go home, Reg.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for this fic! I honestly just really enjoyed the idea of Flynn and Reggie being friends, and I ended up spiralling so much about it until I wrote this. Thank you to everyone who read this! <3  
> Fun fact: Yellow roses symbolize friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated <3


End file.
